ISLAND ARCHIVES: A Look at Governors Island’s Picturesque Past
Sep 2, 2010 3:38 pm
Thanks McKim. Thanks Mead. Thanks White
[caption id=“attachment_3766” align=“aligncenter” width=“237” caption=“Liggett Hall bisecting the Island. Image Courtesy of Library of Congress HABS/HAER collection”]
[/caption] In the late 1870s a trio of architects joined together to form the firm McKim, Mead and White. The influences on their work were many but they had a taste for order and grandeur and were involved in a number of prominent urban design schemes as well as buildings. The team was behind the design of Columbia’s Morningside heights campus and they also had a sweeping vision for Governors Island. [caption id=”” align=“aligncenter” width=“472” caption=“Low Library, Columbia University. Image Courtesy of NYCEDC.”]
[/caption] In their vision, an entire new campus of formal buildings was laid out on the recently created south island. It retained only Castle Williams, Fort Jay, and the South Battery in the historic district. However the principals of the firm all died by the time a final plan was adopted in 1928 and much of the original scheme was abandoned.
Never the less, the influence of McKim, Mead and White is very evident, particularly in the construction of Building 400. The structure was the first permanent building built on the filled area. The architects did big and imposing really well. They were behind the sorely missing original Penn Station as well as the Brooklyn Museum, the Manhattan Municipal Building and the Boston Public Library, among others. [caption id=“attachment_3769” align=“aligncenter” width=“300” caption=“Original Pennsylvania Station. Image courtesy of Library of Congress, HABS/HAER Collection.”]
[/caption] In addition, the imposing structures of Buildings 12, 333, 515 and 555 are all attributed to the firm. Many of the other structures were based on the original Beaux Arts plan developed by these architects. 
